I bought microsoft flight sim X a fewe years back. I installed it on to my computer but did not like the results. so i went back to using fs 2004. Well im ready to try to use the FSX again but the problem i have is that I threw away the box the game came in with the product key and i cant finish the installation without it...what are my options?

if you ck the box the game came in you will see that its only 4 win2k and maybe win-xp depending on the time you bought it , it wont run in a windows version that was created long after it was written , now that being said , win 2kpro version does have a backwards compatibility version , but then the other newer software you have loaded will not run stable and is prone to crash"s (blue screen of death)

a possible solution to your problem is something like I've done ,I've taken a old laptop with win xp running on it ,and islanded it (never connects to internet or network) so that m-soft cant ever shut it off this one I load all my great ole games to it (flight sim, trainz ,etc.) and it works just fine

Check this link for more info...

Also don't know your OS ?
Flight Simulator 2004 doesn't run correctly on Windows 8. It runs on my Windows 8 laptop bought in April 2013. But, none of the aircraft, including any add-ons, show up in the preview window - it is always black. Also, If I download weather and try to save a flight, when I go back to that "saved" flight, it always reverts to the default flight with the Cessna @ the default airport. If anyone knows how to make the flights save, on the Windows 8 platform, please let me know - likewise, with the aircraft previews. Flight Simulator 2004 did quite well on the Windows XP platform for me.

You need to download and install the latest version of DirectX. You will find the information on how to do that here:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/179113

Follow the steps and remember to REBOOT YOUR COMPUTER after you install DirectX. Once you've rebooted, you should be able to install the flight sim.

When you say the 'game stops responding', do you mean that you can do a alt+tab or hit the windows key or use some other method of exiting the game and go back to windows or does windows also stop responding at the same time?

If Windows is not locking up, you should do the same thing every time a piece of software is having issues--restore to default settings and if that does not work...uninstall and reinstall the flight sim.

If Windows IS locking up with your flight sim then the flight sim is probably locking up BECAUSE OF an issue with Windows. If this is the case then it is probably because of a recent update. You can either go into 'Add/Remove Programs' and Select the most recent update to delete or you can do a system restore. Keep in mind with SysRestore--The further back you go, the more things will change. You should only go back far enough to where you know the computer was not locking up.

My best suggestion here is making sure that your graphics are up to date. Whether you have on board graphics or a graphics card, check the drivers and update if necessary. If that doesn't fix the problem, are you using the gold edition, or just flight simulator x? The gold edition contains the Acceleration expansion, and does not recommend installing SP1 or SP2 as it is already updated through the Acceleration Expansion!

FLW500-25741-38238-84003

first all have you added any type of addon's like new airplanes
or scenery if you have then something there may be cousing your problem. if its an airplane go back remove that airplane. and try again
if all this fails you can reset flight sim 2004
go to Start then program files then microsoft games there you see microsoft flight simulator 2004 click on that then another box open up you see troubleshooting you notice in there rest to defaults
do not use this unless you wont reset it all to defaults settings. if this does not cure the problem then a reinstall of flight sim is needed. if you need any more help please ask

exit present flight to general menue, minimize so you can access the "start" button then go to programms/saitek and select "lauch the Flight Sim 2004 plugin". All will work well.....exect the trim wheel acts in reverse!!

First load the second disk and see if it really works.
If it works then might be possible that some files are missing or corrupted...the reason why it is not helping in installation of the game.If you purchased it then I suggest you take it back and get another copy...being a genuine copy the retailer will have no problem changing it. And if it's a pirated one then...I think you would definitely know by now the difference between Pirated and Genuine copy.

Personally I went for the logitech force 3D, it works brilliantly with flight sim X